These Raleigh streets will close on Thanksgiving for 3 Turkey Day road races

Brooke Cain
·3 min read

Getting to grandma’s house on Thanksgiving could get a little complicated if you’re going early and need to cross the path of early morning Turkey trotters.

Three different road races — the annual Raleigh Turkey Trot 8K, the Trophy Trot and Skinny Turkey Half Marathon — will close roads across the city Thursday morning.

Here’s what to know.

Raleigh Turkey Trot route and road closures

The annual Raleigh Turkey Trot road race, which benefits the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, runs almost the entire length of Ridge Road on Thursday, and will close several major roads in west Raleigh.

The morning of the race, runners will start parking at Meredith College at 6:30 a.m. and checking in at Fleet Feet in Ridgewood Shopping Center on Wade Avenue from 6:45 to 8:15 a.m.

The 8K race will start at 8:30 a.m. with an awards ceremony at 9:20. A Kids Dash race starts around 9:35 a.m. at the Ridge Road entrance of the Ridgewood Shopping Center. The race should end by 10 a.m.

See the entire route at mapmyrun.com/routes/view/56639898.

Road closures associated with the race will be:

▪ Ridge Road between Wade Avenue and Leonard Street, closed from 5:30am until 11:00am.

▪ Ridge Road from Wade Avenue to Blenheim Drive will be closed from 6:30 a.m. until 11 a.m.

▪ Roads along the following route will be closed from 8:15 until 10:00 a.m. (Note: All roads one block in each direction will be detoured.):

  • Head north on Ridge Road

  • Right onto Glen Eden Drive

  • Left onto Lubbock Drive

  • Right onto Ranlo Drive

  • Left onto Vick Avenue

  • Left onto Childers Street

  • Left onto Blenheim Drive

  • Left to continue on Blenheim Drive

  • Left onto Ridge Road

  • Finish on Ridge Road between Wade Avenue and Leonard Street

▪ Notable cross-streets closed along the Ridge Road route include Lake Boone Trail and Glen Eden Drive.

Trophy Trot 5K race route and street closures

The Trophy Trot, sponsored by Trophy Brewing and benefiting Healing Transitions, takes place for the seventh year at Dorothea Dix Park, with an official run time of 9 to 11 a.m. (Note: There’s a 400 meter kids’ fun run and an afterparty at Trophy Brewing on Maywood Avenue.)

But streets around the route could be affected beyond those hours.

▪ Goode Street between Lake Wheeler Road and Biggs Drive will be closed from 6 a.m. until noon.

▪ The following route will be closed from 8:50 a.m. until 11 a.m.:

  • Start on Goode Street heading north toward Biggs Drive

  • Left onto Biggs Drive

  • Continue to follow Barbour Drive

  • Right onto Blair Drive

  • Right onto Dawkins Drive

  • Right onto Umstead Drive

  • Right onto Barbour Drive

  • Right onto Kendall Circle

  • Left onto Barbour Drive

  • Right on Bender Street

  • Continue on Kilpatrick Drive

  • Continue on Dorsett Street

  • Right on Barbour Drive

  • Continue on Biggs Drive

  • Right on Goode Street to Finish

Skinny Turkey Half Marathon / 10K / 5K route and street closures

This run, presented by UNC Health, runs through Wakefield Plantation and the Wake Falls neighborhood in North Raleigh.

The Skinny Turkey info page says that streets will not be closed for this race.

The race starts at Wakefield High School at 7:30 a.m. and is expected to end around 11 a.m.

You can view the route map at fsseries.com/event/skinny/maps.